How to Be a Woman

by Caitlin Moran (Harper)

Comparisons to Tina Fey’s “Bossypants” are hard to avoid in this comic feminist manifesto-cum-memoir by a British broadcaster and columnist. Both Fey and Moran evidently spent their childhoods in a constant state of mortification and weathered the hardships brought on by extreme nerdiness only to emerge in adulthood as wildly successful comic writers. But Moran is more ideologically inclined than her American counterpart, and more didactic in tone. Structuring the book around various milestones of womanhood (“I Need a Bra!” and “I Get Married!” are chapter headings), Moran uses her own experiences as a frame for forthright positions on various issues in contemporary feminism: strippers are “letting us all down,” bikini lines should be kept “old-skool,” and weddings are all about “pretending to be a celebrity for one insanely expensive day.” All of which is true enough. But though Moran’s frank wit is appealing, her concerns may seem trivial to American readers accustomed to a political environment with considerably more at stake. ♦

Sign up to get the best of The New Yorker delivered to your inbox every day